Ishmael Mk III

[Monodominant]

Before leaving Ishmael returns the crate he tipped to its normal position (do you need me to roll again?) and then makes sure he covers any tracks he might have left around here. He also ensures nothing else seems amiss.

He then slides the door open and exits.

He has learned a lot but there is one more important thing to do given what he has learned...

He returns to the office and uses the gloves on the various important documents that he had found... namely the one about the meeting tomorrow.

[planswalker]

It is owned by a human male who was Lawful Evil. He gained it when he received it.

Before that, it was owned by a human male who was Lawful Evil. He gained it when he wrote it. He lost it when he gave it to a messenger to deliver.

[Monodominant]

Hmmm... no vampires or vampire spawn down this chain... still evil... strange for a theoretically Good church like that of Pelor though...

Satisfied, he places the documents back where they were and leaves this place.

He takes all precautions including invisibility, hiding and moving silently and finds the same roof he had spent a night when he had first monitored the orphanage. He eats a hearty iron ration and goes for a short sleep till early morning.

[planswalker]

You sleep.

[Monodominant]

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Yes but do I wake up?

Assuming he wakes up Ishmael takes a look for a while towards the orphanage pondering what the hell is going on with that place...

He decides to take one more step into securing his position before pursuing further and as such after taking all precautions he visits the Duchess's house.

[planswalker]

You die in your sleep. Willstaff found you.

You quickly gain entrance into the house.

[Monodominant]

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Ala 1980s/90s Sierra Adventure... you spend too long to finish the quest so you lose :D

Ishmael requests an audience and waits until it is granted.

[planswalker]

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well, I do have a general idea of what Willstaff is doing offscreen in his pursuit of the Devourer. You made it really hard on him.

His only clue is that when souls are devoured, there is NO evidence.

You end up having to wait a few hours, as Duchess Hordukka is in a meeting of state.

[Monodominant]

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Actually that was part of the plan...

If you recall I was leaving those Roman Numerals indicating the number of the murders but then stopped... then eventually I will start again...

Its actually done to throw of the scent... a serial killer and a second serial killer? Confusing heh!?

Ishmael will wait just as long as he will still have a few hours (3-4) before the indicated Pelorite meeting.

[planswalker]

Duchess Hordukka sees you in good time.

"Ah, my best operative. How goes your mission?"

[Monodominant]

Ishmael inclines his head deeply.

"Apologies for interrupting you m'lady..." he starts.

"The mission goes well. I have made inquirres and pursued those... it is about this that I wanted to talk to you...

During the course of my investigation I have found many interesting and disturbing things.

Firstly I infiltrated the temple of Pelor... in a back garden, almost impossible to access, I did find a 'reliquary' of spirits and souls along with some kind of ghostly sheperd... among those creatures there indeed were Allips..." he pauses at this point for a moment.

"In the course of my investigation in the facility that the Bishop finances I also discovered some even more worrysome clues..." at this point he presents the box.

"This was part of a much larger 'hoard' of such items found in a very very well protected and very secret room... had I not had the experience with the Jacks and learned how to work in such cases I doubt I would have managed to find it and get inside...

In any case, these items appear as you can see as coffins... and upon examining them with magic I discovered that they used to belong to vampire spawns..." once again a short pause to let this sink in.

"Today, in a few hours actually, there will be a meeting where these items will be delivered to someone from the church... I know little else about this meeting save for the location and that two major figures will be present... I will off course attend but I wanted you to be aware of all this, in case I perish so that you can advance it in any way you wish..." he says with honesty.

[planswalker]

"I knew it." she said.

[Monodominant]

Ishmael raises a suprised eye-brow, wondering if this is an emphatic 'yes I knew it' or if she really did know it.

"Very well then Your Grace. I apologise for taking your time, I merely wanted to inform you of what I had found so far. I hope I shall have more for you, and hopefully even the culprit in the next couple of days..."

[planswalker]

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ugh, inflection is lost in text.

She said that like a person who suspected something despite how crazy it sounded and just got her proof.

Does that change your response?

[Monodominant]

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Yes, it does hehe :d

Ishmael smiles, pleased that he has delivered good information.

"I can provide all information I have found your Grace so that if I am lost you can pursue it... I am worried because though I am confident in my talents, a vampire might be something I cannot handle and it is only a vampire that can create vampire spawn... whats worse, as you see this coffin is small...

If I were an evil man I would make the connection between small sized coffins and a little girls orphanage!"

[planswalker]

"Indeed. You'll probably need backup on this one. I'm afraid that I don't have any priestly contacts I could call upon. Do you?"

[Monodominant]

Ishmael considers it for a moment.

"I do have some contacts in the church of Kelemvor but I am unsure if they will want to be involved in a struggle with the Pelorites given how powerful that church is... its a worth a try though. Plus I am unsure if I will interfere tonight... my plan was to mostly observe so that I learn more about them and then strike when they are separated..."

[planswalker]

"Start planning now for the confrontation. After you've gathered sufficient evidence, I will use your letter of marque to send you to implement vengeance against the priest responsible for the allip attack. You will want backing by an established church."

[Monodominant]

Ishmael bows his head and nods.

"Very well... I shall seek allies in this then. I am sure some of the more martial churches will consider assisting if it meant the Pelorites are dealt a blow..." he says and unless the Duchess requires something additional he departs.

Though he was a believer of Kelemvor he was unsure if that church alone could suffice. Kordites had assisted him once in the past so they might be of use and they were neutral enough not to care... should he present them with the case of undeath in the ranks of Pelor they might jump to the chance...

Similarly he had heard the rumours of how the Church of Tiamat had recently played an important role in the destruction of a cult... that could mean that the Church of Bahamut could care to show their own dedication to the city... along with the fact that they had been shamed recently it could mean a very easy to convince priesthood...

All this cross his mind but first he had bigger fish to fry...

After getting rid of his current outfit and using a new one, along with an appropriate disguise augmented by the hat, Ishmael visits the area where the house identified is located. He follows protocol and remains invisible, hidden and moving softly off course.

[planswalker]

You arrive an hour before the meet and find that it's a house that appears to be occupied. A woman is tending to household chores in the back yard, washing clothes.

[Monodominant]

Ishmael wonders if he made an error or if this is some kind of illusion.

He attempts to interact with the house to see if that can be the case, while staying hidden off course.

He also takes a walk around the neighbourhood to ensure if something else exists that could be the meeting place instead.

[planswalker]

You touch the house and it feels real.

Searching the block, this is a neighborhood.

[Monodominant]

Ishmael frowns. This could be a simple case of the thugs having used a fake address.

But somehow that would be strange... why would they go as far since they were not aware he had found so much already.

The idea of returning to the orphanage and trying to follow his quarry from there comes to mind but at the same time he considers that they will most likely have moved already.

As such he decides to commit to this.

Since the owner is in the back yard he tries to get inside the house, using his superior sneaking capabilities...

[planswalker]

Your superior sneaking skills don't let you down. You manage to enter the empty unlocked house without alerting the dust bunnies.

[Monodominant]

Ishmael explores the house, starting from the basement.

He considers the possibility of some kind of hideout under a mundane looking house (like the Jacks were want to do).

[planswalker]

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wont is the word you want there, not want. Wont would mean that they're prone to doing it. Want means they desire to do it.

You find that the house has no basement. However, several floor panels are hollow.

[Monodominant]

Ishmael examines the hollow floor panels considering that maybe there is a trap door or something like that.

[planswalker]

You find no hidden doors of any sort, but there is definitly a hollow space below the floor.

[Monodominant]

Pulling the floorboards off?

That could be a possibility. Instead Ishmael decides to try one more thing before proceeding.

He approaches, still hidden and invisible, the woman owner and uses his powers.

Firstly he tries to check her out and read her surface thoughts but he then also turns to look around and see if he can detect any more minds.

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Using Detect Thoughts on the woman. Waiting for 3 rounds so I can sense surface thoughts, hoping that if she is aware of a major meet here it might be part of her thought patterns. After a couple of minutes of checking her I also do the 3 rounds check in the house and especially where I found the hollow floor.

[planswalker]

Her surface thoughts are "Strange noises keep coming from beneath my cellars." It scares her.